Air Force awards two rocket launches to SpaceX

SpaceX has been awarded two launches by the U.S. Air Force, the Hawthorne rocket company said Wednesday.

A value for the launches was not provided.

This is the first time the company officially called Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has won launches for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.

The Air Force started the EELV program in the 1990s as an effort to reduce launch costs by at least 25 percent.

SpaceX touts launches of its Falcon rockets as the least expensive in the industry.

SpaceX has been developing more powerful rockets as it seeks lucrative Department of Defense contracts to send satellites into orbit.

"SpaceX deeply appreciates and is honored by the vote of confidence shown by the Air Force in our Falcon launch vehicles," SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk said in a statement. "We look forward to providing high reliability access to space with lift capability to orbit that is substantially greater than any other launch vehicle in the world."

The first launch is for the Deep Space Climate Observatory scheduled for 2014. That mission will be aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

The second launch is for the Air Force's Space Test Program 2, which provides launch services for space science and technology experiments. That mission will be aboard the Falcon Heavy with a launch in mid-2015.

SpaceX said it expects both launches to be conducted at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

With these two missions, the Air Force will allow SpaceX to demonstrate its vehicle capabilities as the military branch seeks to certify the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

SpaceX has enjoyed success with the Falcon 9, sending satellites into orbit, as well as two historic missions to the International Space Station.

The company hopes to conduct the first test flight of its larger Falcon Heavy, which would be the world's most powerful rocket, in the second half of 2013.